Theora's Child
by ElegantButler
Summary: Theora finds herself in a compromising position after an evening with a friend takes a romantic turn.
1. Chapter 1

Max Headroom

Theora's Child

Rick dropped off Murray and Edison first. As they headed to Theora's place, Theora noticed Bryce shivering.

"Still cold?"

"I don't think I'll ever get warm again," Bryce muttered.

"Rick," Theora said, "just take us back to my place. Bryce don't worry, I'll warm you up We'll have a nice cup of cocoa together. How does that sound?"

"Very nice," Bryce agreed.

Rick dropped Bryce and Theora off at Theora's apartment. Bryce could still barely move from being almost frozen solid. He followed Theora inside and sat on the edge of the bed, which was the closest place to sit down.

"The cocoa will be ready in five minutes," Theora told him. "In the meantime, why don't you change into one of my bathrobes and I'll put your clothes in the dryer to warm them up?"

Bryce took a blue and pink cotton bathrobe into the bathroom. A moment later he came out and handed the cold clothes to Theora who almost dropped them.

"Theora?"

"I'm sorry," Theora said. "Maybe this wasn't such a hot idea. I didn't think of how nice you'd look in my robe."

"Um.. Thanks," Bryce blushed a little, not sure exactly why he was doing it.

He sat at her table, but for some reason he found himself gazing at her bed wondering how comfortable it was and what it would be like to lie there with her curled up in his arms, wondering how different it would be compared to curling up in Edison's arms while he had been waiting to die.

By the following morning, he knew.

The few who saw Bryce come in with Theora the next day made no remark. Bryce was a known innocent and Theora had a good reputation, so they never considered that anything sordid might have happened.

Bryce and Theora knew better, of course. They knew that they had explored forbidden roads that night, knew that while it might be perfectly okay in the town where they lived that there were places in the world where Theora would be crucified for their indiscretion.

But it was okay, and they had agreed that it would not happen again. Could not happen again.

At least not for a few years.

Fate, of course, had other plans.

As the second month anniversary of her night with Bryce approached, Theora felt a nagging sensation that something was seriously amiss. During a series of commercials, she went into the bathroom for a regular break. While she was there she looked at the near-empty trash bin. Only the bare core of a toilet paper roll was present. There was no sign of feminine hygiene articles.

She realized with a gasp what was wrong. She had to act quickly. Some women in her predicament might have an abortion. But she wouldn't. It did feel right to destroy Bryce's child. They might not be in love, but she respected him too much for that.

Then there was the matter of Bryce's age. As she had noted earlier, Bryce was of legal age where they lived in London, England but not in many of the outside countries where Network 23 was viewed. If those places found out and ganged up on Network 23 for the affair it could get very ugly indeed.

She remembered that Ted, one of her fellow Controllers, had asked her out. She hadn't given him answer.

Reaching for her vu-phone receiver, she dialed his number.

"Hello, Ted," she said. "I think I'd like to have you come over for dinner and maybe drinks afterward."

It was the next day that Edison had found Theora still entertaining Ted. And although she made a big stink about it to Murray and Max, it was exactly what she hoped what happen.


	2. Chapter 2

Theora's Child

Chapter 02: The Truth

Ted held Theora in his arms after a night of gentle lovemaking. He had been seeing her for a couple of months now and while he wasn't ready to settle down with a family, he found the relationship to be at least more stable than the one he'd had with his last girlfriend Alice.

He ran his hand over her baby bump and felt the little one inside her kick.

"She's very active for being so early along," he said, thoughtfully.

Theora murmured sleepily into her pillow and drifted off.

A nagging thought gripped Ted.

~It's not yours~

He lay there gazing at her as she slept, wondering who the actual father might be. Wondering if he should leave her then and there. Let her wake up alone if she wasn't going to be honest with him. But he wouldn't do that to her. He would at least wait until she woke up. Get her side of the story. There must, he decided, be a reason she didn't want anyone to know who the real father was. Maybe it was Edison? No, she had said flat out that she would never date her operative.

Theora woke and climbed out of bed. She went to the bathroom. When she came back out, Ted was sitting up, his expression concerned.

"Theora," he said, his voice firm but not angry. "I've already figured out that it's not my baby. You can't be only two months along and look like that. Even with twins."

"Ted… " Theora began.

"Just tell me the truth, Theora. If you want me to pretend the baby is mine we both have to be on the same page. Who's the father?"

"The baby was conceived on the night of the Security Systems incident."

"The night Carter ended up in that thermal testing chamber," Ted recalled. "But you said it wasn't…"

"Edison Carter wasn't the only one who ended up in that chamber," Theora reminded him.

Ted thought about it for a moment. Then the truth came to him.

"Lynch," he said, hardly daring to believe it. "Why in God's name did you sleep with him? He's not even legal in at least three of the countries we broadcast to!"

"That's why I need a cover story for the baby," Theora told him. "Look, I don't care what people think of me. I grew up rough. But Bryce and the baby need to be protected."

"Are you going to tell Bryce?"

"No," Theora said. "He's got a whole life ahead of him. One day he'll meet a nice girl and have a family with her. He doesn't need this burden."

"Alright," Ted said. "I think he has the right to know. But I understand your reasons so I won't tell him. Let the world think it's mine."

"Thank you, Ted." Theora said, gratefully.


	3. Chapter 3

Theora's Child

Chapter 3: Speculations

Theora and Ted were married the next day in a quiet ceremony. She had decided not to invite Edison or the others mainly because she didn't want a scene with Edison. After his reaction to finding them together in the first place, she doubted that Murray would blame her.

"Theora," Edison said as she sat down, "call Bryce. See if he can discover why my Controller is fifteen minutes late."

"Very funny, Edison," Theora said as she looked over a list of potential news stories. "Overslept. Baby was up kicking half the night. Hm, explosion at a refinery in Switzerland."

"Nah." Edison shook his head.

"Interview with actor Nick Olivier to be aired just prior to the first episode of Galavanting with Gatsby?" Theora suggested.

"How does a fictional dead wanna-be get his own show?" Edison mused.

"People will watch anything," Bryce remarked on the vu-phone. "We're not descended from apes, but from ferrets."

"Hi, Bryce," Theora said. "You don't normally call down here. What can we do for you?"

"I need to talk to you about something. It's important." Bryce said. "I'll see you in a few minutes." he disconnected the call as if taking it for granted that Theora would go to his lab.

"I'll be right back," Theora told Edison as she headed up to Bryce's lab.

Edison exchanged looks with Max Headroom who had just popped up on the screen.

"Ferrets?"

"What did you need?" Theora asked Bryce as she walked into his studio.

"First I wanted to say congratulations," Bryce told her. "I noticed your wedding ring. I didn't want to bring it up in front of Edison."

"Thanks, Bryce," Theora told him.

"How's the baby?" Bryce inquired further.

"Good," Theora said. "Ted and I are both very excited."

"Even though it's not his?"

"What…?"

"Is it mine?" Bryce asked her outright.

Theora shook her head. She hated lying to a friend, but she couldn't face dumping such an awesome burden on him. He wasn't ready for that kind of responsibility.

Bryce sensed she was lying but didn't confront her about it. She must have had her reasons for not telling him.

"Is there anything else you needed?" Theora asked.

"No, that was pretty much it. By the way, here…" he handed her a small jewelry box.

"What is that?"

"Ear plugs. When Edison sees that ring, you're probably going to need 'em."

As soon as Theora was out of the room, Bryce contacted the credit bureau and began making arrangements for both a college fund and an ISA for the baby, asking for credits to be diverted from his own account. As the baby had not yet been born or named he simply had the account named the Parrot fund with understanding that it would be renamed later once the infant had an identity.

He did not tell Theora about it. If she could keep secrets, so could he. Besides, the money was the child's not hers. The amount would cover the child's college expenses whether he or she went to ACS or a community college later in life. Either way, they would be covered.


End file.
